Kadena, local firefighters save lives Published Nov. 12, 2014 By Airman 1st Class Zackary A. Henry 18th Wing Public Affairs KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The lives of a 29-week-old premature infant and the child's mother were saved due to the combined effort of Kadena's 18th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire and Emergency Services Flight and 18th Medical Group along with Okinawa's own Nirai Fire Department ambulance team Oct. 20, 2014. Two local national firefighters from Kadena Fire Department, Tajima Yuhei and Tomishima Hideki, worked together with Nirai's ambulance team to save the mother and child. The call went out at 7:56 a.m. and a team was dispatched to the scene within six minutes, due to the training of Master Sgt. Benjamin Powell, 18th CES fire fighter and the rest of the firefighting team on Kadena. Kadena's ambulance was already at U.S. Marine Corps Camp Foster due to a previous call, so it was up to the firefighters from 18th CES Fire and Emergency Services Flight to respond as quickly as possible along with a local fire department from Narai. They had already received the news from dispatch that a baby had been delivered prematurely, was not breathing and was gray in color. They arrived on scene, outside of Gate 1, at 8:09 a.m. "When we got there the baby had no pulse," Yuhei said. "I started CPR to save the baby's life." They continued CPR on the child until they arrived at U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa's emergency room at Camp Foster for further treatment and evaluation. As of Nov. 12, the mother has been released and the child is healthy and being watched at the hospital until the infant reaches 40 weeks old to ensure safety. "It took approximately 25 minutes from the time of the call to the time the baby arrived at the hospital," said Powell. "That response time is thanks to the combined effort of Team Kadena's own and the local fire department of Narai and that is also why we were able to save that child and its mother." (Editor's note: The names of the mother and child are withheld for privacy.)